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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27852014">a christmas miracle</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jcreaus/pseuds/jcreaus'>jcreaus</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Criminal Minds (US TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, BUT MAKE IT JEMILY!, Christmas Fluff, F/F, Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies, The whole shabang, follows the classic hallmark christmas movie tropes, one of them hates christmas, the cheesy lesbian christmas movie we all deserve, the other one is wayyy too festive, their worlds collide and BAM!, they fall in love</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:22:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,208</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27852014</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jcreaus/pseuds/jcreaus</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Anti-Christmas Emily Prentiss finds herself planning and hosting a fundraiser to save a local coffee shop with the very festive (and very beautiful) Jennifer Jareau.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>92</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. mrs. scrooge</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Emily Prentiss was sitting in her living room with a half-empty wine glass in her hand. The bottle was placed on the coffee table in front of her, ready to be poured whenever the brunette finished what was already in her glass. Next to the expensive bottle of red wine was a picture frame that Emily had removed from the wall and propped up on the wooden table.</p><p> </p><p>She swirled the liquid around absentmindedly as she contemplated the photo in front of her. It was an image of her and her ex-girlfriend from Christmas last year. They had gotten professional photos taken for the holidays so they could send out cards to their friends and families, and they framed and hung up a few of their favorites. The bigger ones had been taken down already, so the empty frames leaned against the white walls all around the apartment. The smaller ones, however, were stacked on the coffee table mocking Emily. It felt weird to throw them out, but it felt even weirder to leave them where they had been placed before.</p><p> </p><p>Emily jumped at the sound of her phone ringing from beside her, the scarlet liquid nearly spilling out of the top of her glass at the motion. She finished the last few sips in practically one gulp before picking up her phone to see who was calling her at this time of night.</p><p> </p><p>Derek. Of course.</p><p> </p><p>It was a FaceTime call, so she pressed the ‘accept’ button and held her phone up in order to get her entire face in the camera frame. Emily hated FaceTime because she felt like she always needed to look decent while on camera, but this was Derek Morgan. He had been her best friend since their freshman year at college, so looking atrocious while talking to him was the least of her concerns.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, princess.”</p><p> </p><p>Emily rolled her eyes at that, but smiled and gave him a friendly ‘hey’ back.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you up to on this lovely night?” Derek asked politely. He had been there for Emily all throughout her breakup, but she didn’t exactly respond well to people wanting to see her vulnerable side. He showed up at her apartment unannounced every day for the first week after the breakup, with takeout in hand and a movie for them to watch while they ate. Emily appreciated him and everything he did for her, but she would never tell him that.</p><p> </p><p>“Well,” Emily started. She picked up the bottle of wine and held it in front of the camera for Derek to see before setting her phone down and filling the glass to the top. “I am celebrating being alone for the holidays.”</p><p> </p><p>Emily was not surprised when Derek rolled his eyes at that. He had been telling her for the last month that she was going to have to get back into dating at some point, and the holiday season was the best time to do it. The brunette told him over and over again that she was much happier alone, and would actually prefer to be single during the ‘cheesiest and most cliché’ time of the year. A hookup here and there was okay, but Emily definitely was not looking for anything serious.</p><p> </p><p>A three-year-long relationship ending with one single text would do that to pretty much any woman.</p><p> </p><p>“Mama,” Derek sighed, “you better snap out of this Scrooge ‘I-hate-Christmas’ mood, because you are seriously killing my vibe.”</p><p> </p><p>“Mrs. Scrooge, actually,” Emily smirked and took another sip of her wine.</p><p> </p><p>Emily was hopeless and Derek knew it. Every single time he told her that she couldn’t be all work and no play, especially around Christmastime, he knew he was wasting his time and energy. Her and Melissa broke up in September, but even now, nearly three months later, she was closed off when the topic came up and immersed herself in her work to keep her mind off of it.</p><p> </p><p>Luckily for Emily, he dropped the subject after her last comment, and they moved on to something else. They chatted for a while, but ended the call after Derek lost count of how many times Emily had yawned in a five-minute period. She had to wake up early for work the next day, so they said their goodbyes and she headed to bed.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>The blaring sound of Emily’s alarm startled her more than usual today. She jumped at the sound and nearly fell out of bed, which was definitely not the most pleasant way to wake up. Emily had a long day ahead of her, and she was going to need a very strong cup of coffee to make up for the horrible mood she had just been put in.</p><p> </p><p>Emily was the vice president at a successful marketing company in the city. Her apartment was located at the edge of the city, so her commute was short, and luckily for her, her favorite coffee shop was on the way. Because it’s the last month of the year, Emily would have to spend the majority of her day reviewing her annual marketing plan and sorting through piles of paperwork about the company’s strategies and materials to make sure they were still on track to reach their goal by the end of the year. December was always the busiest month for Emily, which allowed her to fully submerge herself in countless files and board meetings as a distraction from her nonexistent love life.</p><p> </p><p>Emily only gave herself enough time in the morning to apply very little makeup, comb through her hair, and pull on some black dress pants and a blouse. She looked decent enough, she thought. After slipping on her heeled boots and a black trench coat, Emily left her apartment and headed for the coffee shop a few buildings over.</p><p> </p><p>It was December, which meant chilly weather and snow storms. Emily liked colder temperatures, but she also found the winter to be dark and depressing. The holidays used to be the silver lining in all of the snow, but this year, she was dreading the upcoming weeks. She wouldn’t get to do all of the cliché things that she absolutely would never admit to <em>actually</em> liking.</p><p> </p><p>The brunette pushed through the glass door of Penelope’s Pastries and headed straight for the counter. This coffee-shop-turned-bakery had been Emily’s go-to coffee spot since she moved into her apartment a few years ago, and she stopped there almost every day before heading to work. She always ordered the same thing and usually picked up one of the assorted freshly baked pastries the owner had displayed every morning. Emily had become a regular, and the employees recognized her whenever she stopped in. Especially the owner, Penelope Garcia.</p><p> </p><p>“Morning, Emily,” the college-aged boy working at the cash register called out as Emily made her way to the counter. Being recognized and greeted by one of the sweet employees almost brought Emily out of the horrible mood her alarm clock put her in this morning. Almost.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi, Leo,” the brunette greeted. She didn’t actually remember his name, so she read the nametag perched on his apron in order to seem polite. “Where is Penelope?”</p><p> </p><p>The bubbly blonde was usually in the store every day, serving coffee and chatting with the early morning regulars. She always gave Emily a bright smile, no matter how grumpy she looked when she walked through the door.</p><p> </p><p>“She didn’t tell you, did she?” Leo questioned as he rang up Emily’s usual order of one large strong black coffee and the blueberry muffin she pointed to through the glass case. The quizzical look on Emily’s face answered the boy’s question, so he continued, “Penelope has to close the store”.</p><p> </p><p>Emily was taken aback by that news, feeling sad that her morning routine would have to change, and her sort-of-friend Penelope wouldn’t be around to brighten her day. She wanted to ask Leo questions like <em>why?</em> and <em>how did this happen?,</em> but her phone rang before she could. And, of course, it was her boss, bugging her before it was even eight in the morning.</p><p> </p><p>She took her credit card back from Leo and answered her phone at the same time, bringing the device up to her ear and using her shoulder to hold it in place. Emily stepped to the side to wait for her coffee, and listened to her boss ramble on about a presentation she had to give later that week on the company’s sales statistics from that year. She rolled her eyes as he spoke, not really paying attention to what he was saying. She <em>really </em>needed her coffee.</p><p> </p><p>As if the coffee gods read her mind, the barista behind the counter yelled Emily’s name to let her know that her coffee was hot and ready, and her muffin had been warmed and packaged.</p><p> </p><p>The brunette grabbed her things from the woman and smiled kindly at her as a thank you. She immediately took a sip of her coffee, which was way too hot, and tried to suppress the cough that came from the burning liquid sliding down her throat. Her hands were full, with her coffee and pastry in one hand, and her phone in the other. And now, she was coughing. Or choking. Whatever it was, Emily was not paying attention to where she was going.</p><p> </p><p>Emily turned slightly to use her shoulder to push open the glass door. She walked quickly in the direction of her car, wanting to put everything down and focus on what her boss was saying because it probably was important. Unfortunately, as the bitter air hit her once she pushed through the door, so did her hot coffee and the body of someone that she had just collided with.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. my friends call me jj</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jennifer Jareau reached for the door handle of her favorite coffee shop and began to pull it open when someone pushed through the door from the inside and walked right into her, spilling what seemed like a gallon of boiling hot coffee all over both of them. The brown liquid seeped through her white blouse and burned her skin, startling her more than the initial collision.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh my god,” she heard the other person mutter.</p><p> </p><p>JJ looked up from the stain on her shirt to find concerned brown eyes gaping at the coffee all over both of them and the sidewalk. The culprit was a woman, probably around her age, and had black hair that nearly matched the color of her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“I am so sorry,” the brunette in front of her said as she picked up her now-empty coffee cup from the ground. She tossed it in the garbage can placed conveniently near the door, and pulled out a few napkins from her pastry bag. She handed one to JJ before rubbing the stain on her olive-green blouse, undoubtedly making it worse.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay,” JJ sighed, “it was an accident.” She smiled as brightly as she could for someone who had hot coffee all over her, not wanting to make the woman feel bad about the spill. She held the clean napkin in her hand and watched the woman attempt to wipe away the liquid, knowing that plain black coffee smelled too strong and was too dark to come out of either of their shirts without a proper wash (or some bleach, JJ wasn’t an expert).</p><p> </p><p>The brunette gave up after a few seconds, realizing that going home to change was the only sensible option. JJ stood awkwardly next to the woman as she rolled up her sleeve slightly to check the time on her silver watch. She sighed heavily, finally looking up to meet warm blue eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“My apartment is right there,” the brunette pointed with her thumb to a building behind them, which was definitely in walking distance. “If you have time, come with me and I can give you a shirt to wear,” her dark brown eyes softened a little. “I feel so bad,” she concluded.</p><p> </p><p>The woman seemed nice enough, and probably wasn’t a serial killer, so why not? JJ’s clothes were soaked and brown, and now the cool breeze hitting her wet skin was making her shiver. She needed a new shirt, but there wouldn’t be enough time for her to drive all the way home and back before the beginning of the school day.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” JJ nodded, “that would be great, thank you.” She smiled kindly again, wanting to show the other woman how much she appreciated the offer. Most people would just say a quick “sorry” and walk away if they spilled scalding hot coffee on you.</p><p> </p><p>The women walked side-by-side down the street and through the lobby of the apartment building just a few doors down from Penelope’s. They stepped into the elevator, with the brunette leading the way. She pressed the button for the seventh floor, and the elevator jerked as it made its way up.</p><p> </p><p>Jennifer tried talking to the other woman as they walked and again once they made it onto the elevator, but she was always met with short responses and indirect eye contact. The brunette checked her watch often, so JJ assumed she was running late for work and was worried about making it there on time. Small talk was probably not at the forefront of the other girl’s mind. JJ understood that.</p><p> </p><p>Once the elevator doors opened, JJ followed the woman down a short hallway and through the large front door of her apartment. She was immediately taken aback by how <em>expensive </em>everything looked. All of the furniture seemed brand new and hardly used, the greyscale kitchen was sleek and practically spotless, and every ceiling had to be at least ten feet tall.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll grab us new shirts,” the brunette called as she headed further into the apartment, leaving behind a stunned JJ. “Is blue okay?”</p><p> </p><p>The question brought JJ out of her daze. She glanced down at her pants and saw that they were plain black, so any shade of blue would work. She nodded and smiled politely, grateful that the woman cared enough to find her a replacement shirt that matched the rest of her outfit.</p><p> </p><p>The other woman disappeared through a door off of the living room, so JJ made her way over to the white leather couch to wait for her. She sat down, taking in her ridiculously perfect surroundings.</p><p> </p><p>Something was missing.</p><p> </p><p>It didn’t take long for JJ to realize that there wasn’t a single holiday decoration in the entire apartment. No tree trimmed with ornaments and garland, no pristine menorah, and not even a single snowman to signify the winter season!</p><p> </p><p>JJ wouldn’t call herself a <em>crazy </em>holiday person, but she always loved how cheerful she felt around this time of year. She looked forward to making cookies and spending time with her family, and she was convinced that everyone else saw the joy in holiday traditions as well. She must’ve been wrong because this woman’s apartment was entirely black and white, without a single personal touch or pop of color. Bah humbug.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde sat stiffly on the couch, not wanting to get any of the coffee on her all over the leather. Her eyes flicked back and forth over the apartment as she mentally decked the space out in red and green. How could an apartment so beautiful and clean looking <em>not </em>be covered with the most outrageous Christmas decorations?</p><p> </p><p>She examined every inch of the room, but her eyes landed on the stack of picture frames on the coffee table in front of her. The one at the top was a photo of the woman that had collided with her earlier and another woman. JJ assumed they were girlfriends based on how close their faces were and how happy they looked together.</p><p> </p><p>Before JJ could think about it too much, the brunette emerged from her bedroom wearing a beige shirt with a dark blazer over it to replace the stained green one she had on earlier.</p><p> </p><p>“Is this one okay?” The woman held up a blue button-down blouse with nearly invisible stripes for JJ to see.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” JJ smiled warmly, “it’s perfect.”</p><p> </p><p>The brunette pointed her in the direction of the powder room, which was just as modern and plain as the rest of the apartment. JJ imagined what a tabletop tree decorated with a few tiny ornaments on the vanity would look like. Amazing, she thought.</p><p> </p><p>“I can have that dry-cleaned for you,” the woman offered as JJ made her way out of the bathroom and back into the living room.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure?” JJ asked hesitantly, not wanting to make this random stranger pay a ridiculous amount of money to do something that bleach could easily take care of. The brunette nodded and carefully took the material from JJ and set it on the table beside the couch. “Thank you,” JJ started, but her voice trailed off and her eyebrows furrowed when she realized she didn’t even know this woman’s name.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh!” A nervous laugh escaped the woman’s lips, “I’m Emily Prentiss, um-, just Emily,” the brunette stuttered. She extended her right hand for JJ to shake, which she did firmly.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m Jennifer, but my friends call me JJ,” the blonde responded as she shook Emily’s hand. They finally let themselves laugh at how ridiculous this whole ordeal has been, and JJ couldn’t help but notice the way Emily’s almost-black eyes pooled with light when she did, her smile brightening up her entire face. The woman’s standoffish demeanor from earlier disappeared, and JJ thought that she looked beautiful with her features shining the way they were.</p><p> </p><p>Emily let go of JJ’s hand and they both looked away, a somewhat awkward silence settling between them.</p><p> </p><p>“I uh,” Emily cleared her throat, “I can’t believe Penelope has to close her shop.”</p><p> </p><p>Penelope Garcia was one of JJ’s best friends. When she first opened her coffee shop five years ago, JJ went in every single day before work. The bubbly owner had greeted her each morning, and the two usually chatted until another customer walked in or JJ had to leave for work. After a few months of that same routine, they decided to hangout outside of Penelope’s shop, and they have been inseparable since.</p><p> </p><p>The news that Penelope had to close her beloved coffee shop crushed JJ, and she truly wanted to help her in any way that she could. She had spent countless hours trying to come up with ideas, but she felt that asking people outright for money was wrong. So, JJ did as much as she could to support her friend by cooking her dinners and never letting her spend too much time alone.</p><p> </p><p>“You heard about that?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” Emily answered, “one of the employees said that was why she wasn’t there this morning. If I could easily throw together a fundraiser or something I totally would.”</p><p> </p><p>Emily laughed as she spoke, probably because she didn’t actually mean it, but a lightbulb went off in JJ’s head and suddenly her wheels were turning.</p><p> </p><p>“A fundraiser!” JJ’s blue eyes widened, and she smiled brightly, “Emily, that’s <em>brilliant</em>!”</p><p> </p><p>“It is?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If you guessed that Emily bumped into JJ, congratulations! You got it! It's one of the most common and cliché moments in a Hallmark movie, so obviously I had to include it.</p><p>Come say hi to me on tumblr (@jcreaus) or leave a comment here!</p><p>Fun fact: that blue blouse that Emily let JJ borrow is actually a shirt they both wore in the show. JJ wore it in 3x10 and Emily wore it in 3x18. Thank you wardrobe department!</p><p>I hope you have a good day/night :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. when and where?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was lunchtime when JJ finally got to sit down for the first time that day. She plopped down onto her desk chair and pulled out a homemade salad from her bag. JJ leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, appreciating the quietness of her previously noisy classroom.</p><p> </p><p>Then her phone vibrated.</p><p> </p><p>So much for silence.</p><p> </p><p>It was a text from Spencer asking if they were going to eat their lunches together like they usually did.</p><p> </p><p>Spencer Reid was in the same undergraduate program as JJ, and they earned their teaching degrees together. They were always friends, but became much closer when they were both hired by the same school district. JJ was hired as a kindergarten teacher at the elementary school, and Spencer was hired as a physics at the high school down the street. Starting their first real job together with a familiar face helped both of them, and now, five years later, they were inseparable.</p><p> </p><p>JJ replied with a simple “of course!” and leaned her head against the back of the chair again while she waited for Spencer to arrive. Her hectic morning played itself on a loop in her head, refusing to let JJ have even one moment of peace. After her collision with Emily, her already overwhelming schedule for the day had been off by about five minutes, which created even more chaos for her.</p><p> </p><p>Emily.</p><p> </p><p>JJ smiled absentmindedly as she remembered everything that happened <em>after </em>hot coffee was spilled all over her.</p><p> </p><p>Emily had brought up the idea of hosting a fundraiser to raise some money for Penelope’s shop, and the thought had been in the back of JJ’s mind all morning. She loved that there was something fun she could do to help Penelope, and she loved that she was going to get to do it with Emily. JJ wished she had some time to brainstorm ideas for it, but teaching energetic kindergarteners simple addition required her full attention.</p><p> </p><p>JJ wanted to pick Emily’s brain about specific ideas for the event that morning, but the grandfather clock in the brunette’s living room cut her off before she had the chance. Emily was clearly already running late even before the collision, so when the clock chimed eight times to signify that it was already 8:00, she practically took off running. Both of their shoes were still on from before, so Emily ushered JJ back downstairs and out into the cold air. They exchanged phone numbers quickly, and then rushed off into opposite directions to their cars.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey,” a voice called from the doorway.</p><p> </p><p>Spencer Reid walked into the room with a bright smile on his face, carrying his brown lunch bag in one hand and a water bottle in the other.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Spence,” JJ responded as she grabbed her salad and rolled her chair over to the table where they always ate lunch.</p><p> </p><p>“Didn’t you tell me you were wearing white today?”</p><p> </p><p>“Huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“I remember because you said you were nervous about painting with the kids today because you wanted to wear your new white blouse,” Spencer recalled from their conversation last night.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh!” JJ laughed a little too loudly. “I did tell you I was wearing white,” the blonde explained, “but something uh-,” she searched for the right way to tell him that a very pretty woman nearly burned her alive with coffee this morning. “Something happened, and now I have Emily’s shirt on.”</p><p> </p><p>“Who is Emily?”</p><p> </p><p>Spencer was relentless. He asked questions about everything and talked way too much, but JJ loved him for it.</p><p> </p><p>“Emily is the girl who spilled her coffee on me this morning,” JJ laughed at the memory, thinking about how completely unfortunate it sounded. Yet here she was, recalling the moment with a big smile on her face.</p><p> </p><p>Spencer raised his eyebrows at that. There was a glint of something in JJ’s eyes that definitely should not be there for someone who started their day with a cup of hot coffee splattered all over them. He tried to question her further, but JJ got distracted when he asked if the “spill” happened at Penelope’s.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, I meant to tell you!” The blonde grabbed Spencer’s arm to get his attention. He was in the middle of taking a sip of his water, but apparently JJ was too excited about what she was going to say to notice the water that spilled all over the table. “Emily, the girl from this morning, came up with an idea to put together a fundraiser to help Penelope.”</p><p> </p><p>Okay, so maybe that wasn’t actually what happened, but JJ was too excited about helping her friend to care. Spending time with a certain brunette had absolutely nothing to do with it.</p><p> </p><p>Spencer listened to JJ ramble on about her ideas for the fundraiser for about twenty minutes before he cut her off. She was getting way ahead of herself, so he was going to be her voice of reason.</p><p> </p><p>“Have you even asked this girl if she actually wants to help?” He questioned. JJ had recounted every single moment from that morning, and it didn’t take a genius to know that Emily was kidding when she brought up the fundraiser.</p><p> </p><p>“Well,” she drawled out. The answer was obviously no, but it didn’t hurt to call and ask the girl. “I was hoping to come up with some ideas with you, and then call her once I got out of work,” JJ shrugged as she explained her plan to him. She smiled at the idea of getting to talk to Emily again so soon. There was something about the woman that made her curious, like she wanted to get to know her.</p><p> </p><p>Spencer laughed, knowing that the girl had probably come up with that on the spot. He didn’t want to crush her spirits though, especially because it meant they were going to help Penelope, so he pulled out a pen and paper, and started brainstorming ideas with JJ.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>Emily picked up her phone to answer the incoming call without bothering to look at who it was. Her boss was out of town this week, so he had been calling nearly every hour to ask her questions about some company things that she was dealing with for him. She assumed it was him again, so she absentmindedly accepted the call and continued revising the report she was working on.</p><p> </p><p>“Charlie, listen, I know you have questions about this new policy, but I really need to finish this report before my meeting later.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hi Emily.”</p><p> </p><p>That definitely was not Charlie.</p><p> </p><p>Emily put her pen down and pulled her phone away from her ear to look at who was calling. It sounded like JJ, but she just wanted to make sure.</p><p> </p><p>It was.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, hi!” Emily smiled when she saw the contact name, just now realizing that JJ added a few emojis when she put her number into her phone. A coffee cup, the collision symbol, and a red heart.</p><p> </p><p>Wait.</p><p> </p><p>A red heart?</p><p> </p><p>“So, who is Charlie?” JJ laughed at how annoyed Emily had sounded.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” Emily laughed nervously, “Charlie is my boss. He’s called me like a thousand times today, so I just assumed.” She paused, unsure of why the blonde was calling her already. Emily hadn’t even had a chance to run to the dry cleaners yet. “How are you?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m good,” JJ answered, “I just got out of work.”</p><p> </p><p>Emily looked at her watch. It was 3:03. Since when does the workday end this early?</p><p> </p><p>“Already?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I’m a kindergarten teacher,” she explained. “The kids left a few minutes ago, so I thought I would call you while I packed up my stuff.”</p><p> </p><p>The brunette smiled. <em>Of</em> <em>course</em> JJ was a kindergarten teacher. They had spent less than 30 minutes together and Emily already knew that the woman had a heart of gold. She had spilled scalding hot coffee on her before the sun was even fully up and JJ simply smiled brightly and told her not to worry about it. If it were Emily, she would have scowled and stormed away.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” Emily sighed, “well I’m still at work, so I haven’t had time to get your shirt cleaned yet.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s actually not why I called,” JJ said enthusiastically. She was way too cheery for someone who had just gotten out of work. Not to mention, piles of paperwork were practically staring Emily down, begging her to complete them. She was not feeling very cheery.</p><p> </p><p>JJ didn’t wait for Emily to ask what the real reason for her call was, she just started rambling. Apparently, her and her friend (Simon? Spencer? She didn’t quite catch his name) spent their entire lunch period coming up with what they could do for the fundraiser, and JJ was reading her the entire list over the phone. Emily did not remember ever actually agreeing to help.</p><p> </p><p>The brunette glanced at her computer screen as JJ talked. She had over 50 emails that just came in <em>today </em>that she had to read and answer, as well as end of the year employee reports to complete within the next few days. Those reports would determine who gets fired before the new financial quarter begins. But here she was, listening to the spirited blonde talk about saving a local business. During Christmastime.</p><p> </p><p>How cliché.</p><p> </p><p>JJ mentioned that she wanted to involve her students somehow, and that’s when Emily nearly drew the line. The landline phone on her desk flashed red, indicating that she had a message waiting for her. The light stressed her out, but JJ sounded so excited that Emily’s ‘brilliant’ idea would help Penelope <em>and </em>be a fun event for the elementary school kids, so Emily let her continue.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe she even smiled a little when the girl said that one of her students in particular would love it if they brought in Elsa and Anna from the movie Frozen.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m rambling, aren’t I?” JJ finally paused. She had already brought up every item on the list, so now she was just mentioning anything that popped into her head.</p><p> </p><p>Emily laughed, and JJ did too.</p><p> </p><p>“How about,” Emily sat up straighter in her chair, “we go out for dinner tonight?”</p><p> </p><p>Wait. Why did she say that? She really did not want to spend all of her time and energy putting together a fundraiser when she was knee-deep in files, meetings, and presentations.</p><p> </p><p>“To, uh, talk about the fundraiser?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes!” Emily was grateful that JJ knew what she meant. Without the clarification, it kind of sounded like Emily was asking the pretty blonde she met this morning out on a date. Which she was not. “You can tell me more about this list of ideas you have, and I’ll figure out how I can help. You know, while I’m not buried in paperwork.”</p><p> </p><p>Emily heard JJ laugh quietly through the phone.</p><p> </p><p>“That sounds great, Em,” the use of the nickname made Emily’s heartrate speed up. “Just tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hello! i hope you guys are enjoying this so far!</p><p>leave a comment and let me know what you think or find me on tumblr (@jcreaus) if you want! (i really wanna know if you guys like this, so pleaseee let me know!)</p><p>i hope you have a good day/night :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. spaghetti alla carbonara</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Emily!”</p><p> </p><p>The brunette was finally on her way out of the office when she heard someone shout her name from one of the doors she had just walked past. She stopped and sighed, wanting so badly to be done with work for the day.</p><p> </p><p>Plus, she was running late to her dinner with JJ.</p><p> </p><p>“Mrs. Graves! Hi!” Emily put on her best friendly business face and stepped into the office of the human resources manager of their company. The two worked together whenever employees had an issue with whatever Emily put into their department’s monthly marketing plan, but other than that, they kept their distance.</p><p> </p><p>“You can call me Sophie, you know.”</p><p> </p><p>Emily smiled, knowing that the woman was just trying to be polite.</p><p> </p><p>“Take a seat,” Sophie gestured to one of the leather chairs placed in front of her desk.</p><p> </p><p>Emily did as she was told, but wondered what she needed to talk to her about at this hour. It was already 6, so they both should have been long gone by now.</p><p> </p><p>“I just wanted to let you know that a position at the Los Angeles office has opened up. You would do the same thing you’re already doing here, but at least it won’t be snowing by November there.”</p><p> </p><p>Emily was confused, and her face probably gave that away.</p><p> </p><p>“You did request a transfer, right?” Sophie furrowed her eyebrows to match Emily’s puzzled expression. “It says here that you applied for one back in October,” the woman held out a piece of paper that had Emily’s handwriting on it.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh! Right,” Emily remembered filling the paper out a few months ago. “Yeah, I did apply for one.”</p><p> </p><p>After Melissa broke up with her, Emily wanted to get the hell out of the city. The first thing she did after receiving the “it’s over Em, I’m really sorry” text, was apply for a transfer. She had no idea if a spot identical to hers would open up, but she didn’t care. She filled out the paperwork and handed it to Sophie, but forgot about it until right now.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, well I just wanted to let you know that if you want the position, it’s yours. Just let me know before Christmas, and we’ll transfer you over,” Sophie explained to Emily and handed her some forms to fill out if she decided to take the position in Los Angeles.</p><p> </p><p>Emily took the forms and tucked them away into her briefcase. She thanked Sophie and headed out, not entirely sure where her head was at in terms of actually moving cities. Nothing was keeping her here, except for maybe Derek. But he was always a phone call away, and she knew that wouldn’t change, even if she was on the other side of the country. Christmas was in two weeks, though, so she had a lot of thinking to do before then.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>JJ sat alone in a booth at the restaurant Emily told her to meet her at. They had planned for 6, but Emily sent her a text at 6:05 saying that she would be running a few minutes late. JJ had gotten there early, of course, so it felt like a lifetime before the front door jingled, indicating that someone had walked in.</p><p> </p><p>It was Emily.</p><p> </p><p>JJ waved from where she was sitting in the corner of the restaurant, trying to get the brunette’s attention. Emily saw her and smiled, and JJ smiled back.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry I’m late,” Emily sighed as she sat on the other side of the booth. “One of my coworkers decided that when I was leaving would be the perfect time to strike up a conversation.” Emily rolled her eyes and tried to sound as sarcastic as possible, and JJ laughed at her dramatics.</p><p> </p><p>They chatted about their days for a few minutes before someone came over to take their orders. JJ had no idea what to get, so Emily ordered for her. She assured her that she would love it, and the waitress took their menus and disappeared into the kitchen. Emily smiled awkwardly at JJ and then gestured to the stack of papers sitting on the table in front of them.</p><p> </p><p>“So this,” JJ spread out the papers in front of her, “is everything I have come up with so far for the fundraiser.” She had the list that Spencer wrote earlier, a bunch of sticky notes filled with scribbles from ideas that popped into her head throughout the school day, and some more things she had come up with after work.</p><p> </p><p>“Wow,” Emily raised her eyebrows and looked from JJ to the table.</p><p> </p><p>JJ blushed, realizing how insane she probably looked for taking this as seriously as she was. Penelope was important to her, and she was excited to help her friend.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” JJ sighed. “Penelope has always been such an amazing friend to me, so I really want to help her. This,” she motioned towards the lists on the table, “is a lot, so I get it if you don’t want to help. I just assumed because-”</p><p> </p><p>“No!” The brunette cut her off, and hope seeped back into JJ’s blue eyes. “I want to help. We can pull this off,” Emily concluded with a soft smile and a shrug.</p><p> </p><p>JJ pulled out a pen and a notebook from her purse and started writing down everything that her and Emily could come up with. The women had a pretty solid plan by the time their food arrived, so they took a break to eat. </p><p> </p><p>So far, they knew that they wanted the event to be family-friendly. JJ didn’t want people to think they were just showing up to give away their money without having even a little bit of fun, and Emily agreed. She loved that JJ wanted to make this about everyone, while helping Penelope in the process. They thought it would be fun to bring in some carnival games and maybe even a carousel for the night. JJ wanted her students to come, so they thought that would be perfect for them. Emily also suggested a bake-sale, which Penelope could help with. They were both huge fans of her baked goods, so this was the perfect time to showcase her incredible baking skills.</p><p> </p><p>The final part of their plan would be figuring out how to put it all together. Where it would be, who would host it, how they would pay for it all. You know, the important details.</p><p> </p><p>“This is amazing,” the blonde uttered before taking another bite of her pasta. “What’s it called again?”</p><p> </p><p>“Spaghetti alla Carbonara,” Emily laughed as JJ nearly choked after shoving too much food into her mouth. “We should have Dave cater the fundraiser,” the brunette suggested.</p><p> </p><p>“Who?” JJ questioned once she finished chewing.</p><p> </p><p>“David Rossi,” Emily explained, “he owns this restaurant. I’ve known him since I was a kid, so I’m sure he would be happy to help us out.”</p><p> </p><p>Papa Rossi’s was a small restaurant located a few blocks from Emily’s apartment. It wasn’t very well-known, but the people that did know about it took advantage of the amazing food. Emily had been eating there since she was in elementary school, so David knew her and her family well. He always said that he would do anything for her if she asked, so she figured now was the perfect time to ask him for a favor.</p><p> </p><p>JJ opened her pen again and wrote down that the fundraiser would be catered by Papa Rossi’s, and David would hopefully stick around for the entirety of the event. Emily still had to talk to him, though, so JJ made sure to add that in parenthesis. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m not very good with figuring out numbers,” JJ commented as she skimmed over their plan. The section for ‘finances’ was left blank because neither girl knew enough about budgeting to offer insightful information. “We can’t really do much more than what we have without setting a budget and a goal.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait!” Emily exclaimed and pulled out her phone. She scrolled through her contacts for a few seconds before landing on one that read ‘Neighbor Aaron Hotchner’. “Oh thank god,” Emily clicked on his contact name, “I still have his number.”</p><p> </p><p>“Who is that? Your neighbor, I’m assuming,” JJ added with a teasing smirk.</p><p> </p><p>Emily rolled her eyes playfully, “yes, JJ, he is my neighbor. He’s a financial advisor, so I could ask him for some help.”</p><p> </p><p>She sent him a quick message asking if he would call her when he got the chance.</p><p> </p><p>There wasn’t any more planning they could do without seriously considering their budget, which they couldn’t figure out until Aaron got back to them, so their conversation drifted to something more casual.</p><p> </p><p>“How long have you been going to Penelope’s?” JJ asked with a glint of curiosity in her eye. “It’s just, you look <em>so </em>familiar.”</p><p> </p><p>“Um, I think for about two years,” Emily answered. “Once I moved in to my apartment and saw how close it was, I started stopping there every morning. Penelope has always been so sweet to me, so I kept going back.”</p><p> </p><p>JJ smiled. Her friend was kind to everyone, and she’s glad that Emily appreciated her as much as she did.</p><p> </p><p>“What about you? How long have you been going?”</p><p> </p><p>“My friend Spencer brought me to the grand opening, and I’ve been going there ever since,” JJ explained. “He actually thought it was a date, which was weird, but yeah. About five years.”</p><p> </p><p>Her cheeks grew red as soon as she realized she had overshared. Hopefully Emily caught on to the fact that Spencer was her <em>friend. </em>She didn’t want to give the (very pretty) brunette the wrong idea about her.</p><p> </p><p>“It wasn’t a date?”</p><p> </p><p>Here we go.</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t know it was a date, but then he tried to kiss me when he dropped me off at my house. I had to tell him that he’s not exactly my type.” JJ smiled softly, hoping Emily understood what she meant.</p><p> </p><p>“He’s not your type because he’s your friend, or because…” Emily waited for JJ to finish her sentence. She was pretty sure she knew where this was going, but she also didn’t want to assume.</p><p> </p><p>“Because he’s a he,” she concluded with a small laugh.</p><p> </p><p>Emily’s features softened, telling JJ that she could relax too. JJ went into more detail about the date, and by the end of the story, both women were laughing so hard that tears threatened to spill out of their eyes. They had finished their meals a while ago, but they were both enjoying themselves too much to wave the waitress over and request their checks.</p><p> </p><p>“So how come your apartment is so sad looking,” JJ joked, still smiling despite how much her cheeks were starting to hurt.</p><p> </p><p>Emily laughed again, but not before an expression of hurt flashed across her face. She thought that maybe JJ hadn’t noticed, but by the way the woman’s bright eyes grew dark, she knew she had been caught.</p><p> </p><p>“When I first moved in, I had an interior designer come in and do everything for me,” the brunette explained.</p><p> </p><p>JJ watched intently as Emily toyed nervously with the wrapper of her straw.</p><p> </p><p>“I had a few picture frames up that made the place homier, but they were all of my girlfriend and I,” Emily paused to correct herself, “my ex-girlfriend and I. So, I took them down, and now it’s sad looking.” She laughed, trying desperately to lighten the mood.</p><p> </p><p>“Em,” JJ covered Emily’s hands with her own, “I’m sorry for bringing that up.”</p><p> </p><p>Emily forced a smile for JJ’s sake, not wanting the girl to feel sad about her miserable love life. And her miserable apartment.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay,” she smiled again before pulling her hands away and resting them on her lap. “But you’re right. It is sad looking.”</p><p> </p><p>And just like that, JJ’s eyes grew wide and all of her features brightened.</p><p> </p><p>“You know what it needs?” JJ smirked.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh god. What?”</p><p> </p><p>“A Christmas makeover!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hi guys! sorry for the delay! it's finals week, so i'm trying my best.</p><p>i hope you like this chapter! feel free to leave me a comment or come say hi to me on tumblr (@jcreaus)</p><p>have a good day/night :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. i think you're insane</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey, Em.”</p><p> </p><p>Emily smiled at the sound of JJ’s voice, excited that the other girl picked up her call. She wasn’t exactly sure when lunch time was for the elementary school, so she called at noon and hoped for the best.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi,” she said excitedly, “guess what?”</p><p> </p><p>“What?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m picking up your shirt on my way home from work,” Emily told her. She had finally taken it to the dry-cleaner, so she was happy to check this thing off of her long to-do list. Plus, she knew she was going to get to see JJ when she returned it. So, yeah, she was happy.</p><p> </p><p>“Ugh,” JJ said sarcastically, “finally.” She made sure to draw out each syllable to be extra dramatic.</p><p> </p><p>Emily rolled her eyes and laughed, knowing that the girl wasn’t actually annoyed with how long it took her to take care of the coffee stain.</p><p> </p><p>It had been almost a week since their dinner at Papa Rossi’s, and they hadn’t talked much since. Emily was busy finishing up her year-end paperwork, and JJ knew that. It was the last week before winter break for the school district, so the blonde had a pretty busy schedule for the week, too.</p><p> </p><p>But now it was Friday, the last day of school for JJ, and the last day Emily had to finish up all of her reports and last-minute paperwork for that year.</p><p> </p><p>“I can drop it off at your place sometime this weekend,” Emily suggested.</p><p> </p><p>“What if I bring coffee over tomorrow morning?”</p><p> </p><p>Emily had planned on sleeping through the weekend and into Monday because of how exhausted she was from working overtime this week, but she could definitely make an exception for JJ.</p><p> </p><p>“Sounds good to me,” Emily smiled at the thought of starting her morning with the blonde. “Do you know my order?”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course.”</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>A loud knock on the front door of her apartment startled Emily awake. She sat up quickly and glanced over at the clock on her bedside table. It was already nine, which meant she slept through her alarm and JJ was probably the person knocking on her door.</p><p> </p><p>She hopped out of bed and shouted a quick “be right there!” in the direction of the door. Emily picked up her bra from where she had thrown it on the floor the night before and put it on clumsily while she ran into her bathroom. Once the clasp was fastened, she used her right hand to brush her teeth and her left hand to smooth out the messy bed-hair she was sporting.</p><p> </p><p>Emily ran back into her bedroom to pick up her work clothes from yesterday, quickly throwing them into her closet and shutting the door. She made her bed as best as she could in twenty seconds, and decided that was going to have to be good enough.</p><p> </p><p>She jogged through the living room and into the kitchen where the front door was, and peaked through the peephole to make sure it was actually JJ outside and not some axe murderer that was going to kill her.</p><p> </p><p>Surprisingly, it was neither.</p><p> </p><p>Emily saw a tree through the peephole. A pine tree. Like, the kind you decorate with ornaments and ribbons for Christmas.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s me, Em,” someone called from the hallway. She couldn’t see her, but Emily knew immediately that it was JJ’s voice.</p><p> </p><p>Emily swung the door open and was suddenly face-to-face with a tree that was about her height, maybe a little taller. She looked down to see a few pine needles on the carpet, as well at JJ’s favorite pair of winter boots. She had been wearing them the morning that they met, and the blonde had been grateful that Emily didn’t spill any coffee on them.</p><p> </p><p>JJ poked her head out from behind the tree and presented Emily with her cup of coffee. “Morning, sunshine,” she giggled at the look of pure confusion on Emily’s face. “Weren’t you expecting me?” She asked with a smile, taking a small step forward through the door.</p><p> </p><p>Emily pulled the door open wider and stepped out of the way. She noticed that JJ had a few grocery bags in her hands, so she grabbed them from her and placed them next to the kitchen island. She set her coffee down onto the counter, and went back to close the door once JJ dragged the tree inside.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh,” she watched JJ carry the tree through her living room, leaving a trail of pine needles behind her. “I was expecting <em>you</em>,” she pointed to the tree, “but definitely not that.”</p><p> </p><p>Emily laughed, realizing how funny all of this was. JJ had shown up at her door to pick up her shirt, but brought an entire tree with her for the two of them to decorate. She noticed that the grocery bags were filled with colorful ornaments, garland, and other decorations, which Emily assumed were for her apartment.</p><p> </p><p><em>Oh. </em>This was her Christmas makeover, wasn’t it?</p><p> </p><p>Emily watched JJ set the tree down in front of the large window that overlooks the city. “I knew this would look perfect here,” she used one hand to hold the tree in place and rested the other on her hip. She twisted to face Emily, who was leaning against the kitchen counter with her arms crossed, smiling amusedly at her. “What do you think?”</p><p> </p><p>“I think you’re insane.”</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>They spent the next few hours emptying the grocery bags and distributing the contents around Emily’s apartment together. JJ had gone shopping after work the day before and picked up an assortment of decorations that she thought would look perfect in Emily’s apartment, and the brunette was very grateful to say the least. She was happy that she got to do this with JJ, especially because she knew how much the girl loved all-things Christmas.</p><p> </p><p>The first thing they tackled was the tree. Emily held it upright while JJ figured out the stand that she had bought, and then they lifted it together and balanced it in place. It was only a little bit crooked, which they both decided to ignore. Once they put the skirt under the tree, they started with the trimmings. They spent about an hour stringing lights (figuring out the electrical portion of that proved to be much more difficult than they originally thought), hanging ornaments, and throwing tinsel at the tree.</p><p> </p><p>They took a break to finish their coffees and sit for a few minutes. Wrestling with a giant tree took a lot out of them, so they sat on the couch and talked about how their weeks had gone. JJ told Emily that she was glad to have a few weeks off, despite how much she loved her students. Emily talked about her end of the year reports and presentations that she had finished up this week. The offer she got to transfer to the Los Angeles office popped into her head, but she decided to ignore it and talk about something else. She still had to make the decision, so she didn’t want to worry JJ with it.</p><p> </p><p>JJ was excited to show Emily the other decorations she had bought, so she jumped up from the couch as soon as she finished her coffee. She brought another one of the bags into the living room and pulled out two strands of garland, which were pre-decorated with lights and ribbons. JJ suggested that they put one strand on the mantel of Emily’s fireplace, and use the other to frame the front door. Emily shrugged, not really knowing what would look good and what wouldn’t. But she trusted JJ, so she followed her to the front door and grabbed a hammer and a few nails from one of her drawers.</p><p> </p><p>Next thing she knew, she was balancing on one of her kitchen barstools, hammering nails around the doorframe. JJ was standing behind her, using one hand to hold the chair in place and the other to hold onto the garland until Emily was ready for it. Emily is not very coordinated when it comes to hammers, so the two of them spent more time laughing at how much she was struggling than actually putting up the garland.</p><p> </p><p>Emily was having fun, as much as she hated to admit it.</p><p> </p><p>They put the other strand of garland on Emily’s fireplace, which was a lot easier because hammering nails into the wall and balancing on swivel chairs was not involved. JJ bought Emily a stocking with the letter ‘E’ on it for her name, and she spent a few minutes hanging it on the mantel. Emily sat on the couch and watched, finding it cute how intensely the blonde was focused on hanging the stocking.</p><p> </p><p>“How does it look?” JJ stepped to the side and held her arm out in the direction of the stocking.</p><p> </p><p>“It looks perfect,” Emily smiled softly.</p><p> </p><p>“Perfect,” JJ smiled back.</p><p> </p><p>“But,” Emily drawled out, “it looks kind of depressing. It’s just one stocking! Like, that’s <em>so</em> sad.” She meant it as a joke, but she actually hated that there was just one lonely stocking hanging. Last year she had two, so only seeing one made her heart hurt a bit.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think it is,” the blonde responded with a shrug. “It makes the room look complete. You can’t have decorations without at least one stocking.” JJ smiled reassuringly at Emily, hating the sadness that had just subtly pooled into the girl’s once-warm brown eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Whatever you say,” Emily smiled back. She knew that JJ wanted to make her feel better about it, and surprisingly, it had worked. “What else did you bring?”</p><p> </p><p>There was one more bag in the kitchen, so Emily made her way over to it. JJ did too, beating her to it by a few seconds. The blonde picked up the bag before Emily could, and hid it behind her back.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you doing?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s a surprise.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, can you tell me what it is?”</p><p> </p><p>JJ shook her head playfully, so Emily lunged at her to try to grab the bag from behind her back. The other girl was one step ahead of her, though, because she took off running. Emily followed closely behind, finally catching up to JJ once they were in the living room. She carefully wrapped her arms around her torso and lifted her, spinning the both of them around until they were dizzy and out of breath from laughing.</p><p> </p><p>Once they caught their breath and JJ was back on the floor, she set the bag down on the coffee table and pulled out something wrapped in newspaper. Emily sat down on the couch so she could watch the other girl unwrap the object, curious to find out what it was.</p><p> </p><p>“So this,” JJ started as she carefully removed the newspaper, “was given to me by one of my students a few years ago.” She let the wrapping fall to the floor, and held up a ceramic plate that had clearly been decorated by a young child. Rudolph the reindeer was painted on it, and snowflakes were scattered around him.</p><p> </p><p>Emily smiled, thinking it was adorable that JJ was giving her something that one of her students had made for her. She stood up and took the plate from JJ, wanting to get a better look at it.</p><p> </p><p>“His name was Julian.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Oh crap. </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>“Was?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” JJ sighed, “he passed away last year. Cancer.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, Jayje,” Emily examined the other girls face, noticing the way her features darkened and her posture deflated. She had only known JJ for a little under two weeks, but she already knew how much each and every one of her students meant to her. One of them dying must have destroyed her. “I can’t take this from you.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay,” JJ looked up and forced a smile. “I want you to have it.”</p><p> </p><p>Emily tilted her head, wondering if she meant it.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m serious, Em,” JJ smiled again, this time more genuinely. “Julian was the happiest kid, and he loved the holidays. If he saw your sad apartment, he would have insisted that you take the plate. Trust me.” She laughed softly, hoping to lighten the mood a little.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” she smiled and looked down at the plate in her hands. “I have the perfect place for it.”</p><p> </p><p>Emily took JJ’s hand in her own, and led them back into the kitchen. She stopped in front of the counter, and leaned the plate against the wall. She made sure it was secure in place before letting go, and then walked back into the living room, still holding onto JJ’s hand.</p><p> </p><p>“Look! You can see it from here,” Emily announced. Actually, you could see the plate from anywhere you went in the large room. It was perfect.</p><p> </p><p>JJ squeezed Emily’s hand as a way to say thank you. She beamed at the girl, grateful that she understood how important the plate was to her.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>It was almost four o’clock by the time JJ felt like Emily’s apartment was finally decorated to her standards. Decorating took longer than either of them had expected it to, but they also got distracted a few times with impromptu singing competitions and laughing so hard that they had to sit down and take a break.</p><p> </p><p>Emily plopped down onto the couch as JJ set the last snowman on the kitchen island. They hadn’t eaten since breakfast this morning, which really hadn’t been much more than a few cups of coffee anyway, so Emily’s stomach was starting to growl.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey,” Emily called out to JJ, “are you hungry?”</p><p> </p><p>The blonde came back into the living room and sat down next to Emily. As if on cue, her stomach made a noise, indicating how hungry she was. “I guess so,” she laughed.</p><p> </p><p>“How does Chinese takeout sound?”</p><p> </p><p>JJ’s stomach growled louder at the question, “apparently really good.” They both laughed, and Emily got up to grab the menu from one of the drawers in her kitchen.</p><p> </p><p>They looked through the menu together, and Emily placed their order as soon as they figured out what they wanted to eat. Soon enough, they were sitting on the floor of the living room, using the coffee table to eat.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” JJ stood, “how much do I owe you?”</p><p> </p><p>“Jay, you bought me an entire tree and dragged it all the way to my apartment,” Emily replied. “Let me buy you dinner.”</p><p> </p><p>JJ smiled, and took her spot next to Emily again. The brunette picked up the TV remote and began scrolling through Netflix to see if there was a movie they could watch.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” JJ called out as Emily scrolled, “lets watch that one.” She pointed to the screen, “Love Actually.”</p><p> </p><p>“Isn’t that, like, a cheesy romance movie?” Emily deadpanned.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes!”</p><p> </p><p>“Then no.”</p><p> </p><p>“But it’s a cheesy <em>Christmas </em>romance movie,” JJ explained, knowing that Emily would especially hate that specific genre.</p><p> </p><p>Emily playfully argued with her about it for a few minutes, but eventually she gave in and hit play. They finished their food as the sun went down, and then moved to the corner of the sectional. Emily pulled out a large wool blanket for them to share, and they curled up under it together.</p><p> </p><p>Once it was dark out, the only light in the room came from the illuminated tree and the television screen. Emily was squished between the side of the couch and JJ’s body. The younger girl nuzzled closer as the movie played, resting her head on Emily’s shoulder with her arm draped across her stomach.</p><p> </p><p>They laid like that for the rest of the movie, limbs tangled together under the blanket and warm breaths hitting each other’s skin. The credits rolled, but neither of them wanted to move. JJ had been fighting sleep for the majority of the movie, so she gave in. Emily didn’t object, though, and eventually she fell asleep too, enjoying the comfort and warmth she felt laying that close to the other girl.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i rewrote this chapter three times because i could not for the life of me make it the way i wanted. i think i like it, but it's three in the morning, so i have no idea what's going on.</p><p>so, i hope you guys like it! leave me a comment or say hi to me on tumblr (@jcreaus) if you want.</p><p>i hope you have a good day/night! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. emily prentiss does not have crushes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A persistent beeping noise was the first thing JJ heard when she woke up, but it took a few moments for the rest of her senses to catch up. She knew she was somewhere unfamiliar, but she couldn’t remember where. The beeping stopped after a few seconds, and the next thing JJ heard was a few mumbled swear words coming from behind her.</p><p> </p><p>Emily.</p><p> </p><p>She smiled. She had fallen asleep there last night while they were watching Love Actually, and apparently Emily didn’t wake her up and kick her out.</p><p> </p><p>JJ smelled burnt toast, which she assumed was what Emily was swearing about in the kitchen. She rolled over so she was facing the tree they had decorated the day before and opened her eyes. The lights were still on, but they didn’t have the same effect during the day as they did at night.</p><p> </p><p>The beeping noise returned, but it didn’t take long for JJ to realize that it was the microwave indicating that whatever was in there was done cooking. She sat up and twisted so she was looking over the back of the couch. She could see Emily in the kitchen, who was removing a plate from the microwave.</p><p> </p><p>The smell of bacon filled the room, and JJ realized that Emily was making them breakfast.</p><p> </p><p>The brunette turned around to set the hot plate on the counter, and noticed JJ sitting up watching her.</p><p> </p><p>“Morning,” Emily said softly. She smiled at JJ, who returned the smile with a small wave.</p><p> </p><p>“Good morning,” the blonde stood up and made her way into the kitchen. She sat at one of the barstools where an empty plate and a glass of water were waiting for her. “Since when are you a chef?”</p><p> </p><p>Emily laughed, “since about twenty minutes ago when I woke up and realized I had no cereal.”</p><p> </p><p>JJ giggled, and grabbed a piece of bacon from the plate Emily had just set down on the counter. She took a bite and made a loud “mmm” sound to let the brunette know that her impromptu breakfast making had been successful.</p><p> </p><p>At least it was with the bacon. The toast, on the other hand, was a totally different story. There was a plate next to the toaster stacked with four pieces of bread, all of which were completely black.</p><p> </p><p>Emily grabbed a spatula from one of her drawers and paused in front of the griddle. She was making pancakes for the both of them, and they should be done by now. She closed her eyes and whispered, “please don’t be burnt”, which earned a laugh from JJ. Emily lifted the spatula, and turned over all five pancakes.</p><p> </p><p>Surprisingly, they were perfectly golden.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes!” Emily cheered quietly to herself, which JJ thought was adorable. She smiled at the girl and gave her a thumbs up, finding it cute that Emily was so proud of herself for successfully making pancakes.</p><p> </p><p>Once the pancakes were done, Emily sat down next to JJ and they ate breakfast together. The blonde helped with the dishes after they were finished, and then they moved into the living room to talk about the fundraiser. They had most of it figured out after Aaron sent them the finance portion of the event, so they just needed to discuss last-minute details.</p><p> </p><p>Emily was going to order the food from David, and JJ was going to send out invitations to all of her students. They were going to recruit Spencer and Derek to help out with the games, and Penelope was already working on making an assortment of pastries for the bake sale. A few of Penelope’s employees agreed to help out, which JJ and Emily were very grateful for because it meant they didn’t have to spend extra money to hire people. They didn’t expect a huge turnout, so they figured the 15 people they had total would be perfect.</p><p> </p><p>JJ left shortly after that, realizing that she was still wearing her clothes from yesterday and hadn’t brushed her teeth in over 24 hours. She thanked Emily for breakfast and letting her stay over, and Emily thanked her for brightening her apartment up with all of the decorations.</p><p> </p><p>Once outside, JJ immediately called Spencer.</p><p> </p><p>“Hello?”</p><p> </p><p>“I have a crush.”</p><p> </p><p>“No way,” Spencer said sarcastically, as if he figured it out before she did.</p><p> </p><p>“Look. I know that you’re a genius and probably could read it on my face before I even knew,” JJ started, “but let me gush for a minute.” She was smiling, so obviously she wasn’t actually mad at him. She just needed to let it out, and she was going to force him to listen.</p><p> </p><p>“Go ahead,” he sighed, also with a smile on his face. Spencer knew this phone call was probably going to last awhile, which he was okay with, so he sat down and prepared himself to listen.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay so,” the blonde paused to unlock her car. She sat down and turned her key in the ignition to start it, and then she continued her story. It was about a twenty-minute drive to her house from the city, so she put her phone on speaker and rambled on about Emily.</p><p> </p><p>She started from the very beginning, talking about how she went shopping after work on Friday and picked out a variety of decorations that she thought would look good in Emily’s apartment. JJ told him that she showed up on time for their coffee (not) date, but Emily opened the door a looked like she had just rolled out of bed, which JJ found to be adorable. She gushed about how cute the brunette looked in her pajamas and messy hair, and Spencer laughed at how crazy JJ already was about this girl.</p><p> </p><p>“You gave her Julian’s plate?”</p><p> </p><p>JJ told him all about their time decorating, starting with the issues they had with the lights on the tree, all the way to how funny it was watching Emily struggle to hammer in the nails. She told him about Julian’s plate, but he cut her off to see if he had heard her right. He knew how important Julian was to her, so to hear that she gave away his plate so easily shocked him.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” JJ sighed. She remembered how well Emily had handled the situation because she knew how important the boy was to her. She smiled, finishing the rest of the story. “You know he would have wanted her to have it if he knew how upset the holidays made her,” she explained.</p><p> </p><p>Spencer hummed in agreement, and she continued, “I didn’t even have to explain to her how important the plate was to me, she just <em>knew</em>.” The brunette had been so gentle with her once she said that Julian had passed away, and that meant the world to her. She told Spencer all about how Emily had taken her hand and put the plate in a spot that was visible to almost the entire apartment, and he told her how happy that made him to hear.</p><p> </p><p>“And then,” JJ kept rambling, despite having pulled into her driveway a few minutes ago, “we fell asleep. Together. Under the blanket. Like, with my head on her shoulder, and her legs wrapped around mine.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wow.”</p><p> </p><p>“Spence, this is serious!”</p><p> </p><p>“I know! I meant the ‘wow’ wholeheartedly!”</p><p> </p><p>JJ rolled her eyes, and he laughed. “I really like her, okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“I can tell,” he smiled, knowing how much she meant it.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>“Hi, princess,” Derek’s loud voice sounded through the speaker on Emily’s phone.</p><p> </p><p>JJ had just left, so she went into her living room to sit on the couch for a few minutes. She didn’t exactly get to relax yesterday, not that she was complaining, but she was glad to have some time alone after her busy week at work.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey,” she replied.</p><p> </p><p>“Have you taken that job yet?”</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, Emily forgot all about the offer. She told herself she was going to decide before Monday, but it was already Sunday afternoon and she hadn’t even thought about it.</p><p> </p><p>“You know you can’t pass that up,” Derek told her, which she definitely already knew. She would love to get a new start, especially in a city that was warm and didn’t experience snow storms for nearly six months out of the year.</p><p> </p><p>“I would have to miss the fundraiser.”</p><p> </p><p>“Says who?” Derek wondered. The last thing he had heard about the job offer was that she would have to decide before Christmas, not that she would have to move across the country before then.</p><p> </p><p>“Says Sophie, the HR lady.”</p><p> </p><p>The woman had called her the other day to let her know that she could be in Los Angeles by Christmas Eve if she wanted to. They would book her a flight and take care of any moving she would have to do, which was definitely something she hated to pass up. Her flight would leave the morning of the fundraiser, though, so she wouldn’t be able to make it.</p><p> </p><p>Letting JJ down like that nearly made Emily spiral every time she thought about it, so she figured not deciding at all made the most sense. (She knows how bad of an idea that is, but hey, she’s going to cope the way she wants to cope!)</p><p> </p><p>“Oh,” Derek sighed. “Well, speaking of,” he drawled out, the smirk on his face noticeable by the tone of his voice. He wanted to change the subject, knowing that talking about the decision was upsetting Emily.</p><p> </p><p>“Derek. No,” Emily warned.</p><p> </p><p>“Emily. Yes! I want to hear all about this pretty lady that you <em>obviously </em>have a thing for,” he laughed.</p><p> </p><p>Emily argued with him for a few minutes, insisting that she absolutely does not have “a thing” for JJ. But then she spent the rest of their phone call going on and on about their time together the day before, even mentioning how happy it made her that JJ went out of her way to give her a good association with the holidays. Derek started to tease her once the story turned into gushing about JJ, so she hung up the phone as soon as he accused her of having a crush on the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>Emily Prentiss does not have crushes. <em>Especially </em>on cheery blondes that did nothing but brighten her day and make her smile. Absolutely not.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>is this a filler chapter? the world may never know.</p><p>i am going to do everything i can to have the last chapter posted by christmas day, even if it kills me.</p><p>anyways, i hope you guys enjoyed this! let me know what you think in the comments or shoot me a message on tumblr (@jcreaus)</p><p>have a good day/night :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. she didn't tell you, did she?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the day before the fundraiser and JJ couldn’t be happier. She was in her kitchen with Penelope and Spencer, and the three of them were making cookies and dancing to a playlist of Christmas songs. Everything was all set for the event, so now they were just passing time, waiting for tomorrow night when it started.</p><p> </p><p>Every year, JJ invites Spencer over to help her make a few batches of cookies, which she gives to her closest friends and family members. This year, she decided to invite Penelope, as well as Emily, Derek, and Aaron. The other three hadn’t shown up yet, but she figured they were on their way.</p><p> </p><p>It had been a few days since Emily made breakfast for JJ, and she hadn’t heard from her since. They exchanged a few texts, but they hadn’t spoken anymore than that. JJ figured the brunette was busy with work or something, so she didn’t think too much about it. She knew she was going to see Emily tomorrow at the fundraiser, and she invited her over for their cookie decorating party, so she wasn’t worried.</p><p> </p><p>But then her phone rang.</p><p> </p><p>It was Aaron.</p><p> </p><p>“Aaron, hey!” JJ smiled as she answered the call. “Are you guys on your way?”</p><p> </p><p>“Jennifer, listen to me,” he started.</p><p> </p><p>His voice was emotionless, and JJ could practically hear the way his eyebrows were furrowed. She knew something was wrong, but she didn’t know what. Her mind wandered to every possible scenario, naturally assuming the worst. Did something happen with the fundraiser? Were they actually not getting the ballroom after all? Was there not enough money to put it all together and help Penelope?</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” JJ sighed, not actually ready to hear whatever bad thing he was going to tell her.</p><p> </p><p>“Emily left,” Aaron paused. “She won’t make it back in time for the fundraiser.”</p><p> </p><p>JJ felt her heart sink.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you mean she <em>left</em>?”</p><p> </p><p>“She got a job offer in Los Angeles,” he paused, realizing what was actually happening.</p><p> </p><p>When Emily called him from the airport, she had told him that she got a job offer in Los Angeles, and she had until Christmas to make the decision. The company told her that if she took the job they would help her pack up and move everything across the country, but only if she left that day. Apparently they had booked the flight for the 23<sup>rd</sup>, which was <em>not </em>what they had agreed on, but she had no choice.</p><p> </p><p>She told Aaron that she hadn’t talked to JJ about leaving yet, so she asked if he would let her know that she was really sorry about having to miss the fundraiser. What Emily failed to mention was that JJ knew nothing about the job offer, and he was the one that had to tell her everything. He had to tell her that Emily was leaving the day before the fundraiser, and he would have to be on the phone when JJ realized that Emily didn’t care enough about her to tell her herself.</p><p> </p><p>“She did?” Tears filled her eyes as she slowly started to put the pieces together.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” he sighed. “She didn’t tell you, did she?”</p><p> </p><p>JJ blinked at that last part, sending a few tears rolling down her cheek. Emily left. She left JJ the day before the fundraiser and didn’t even have the heart to tell her. She just left.</p><p> </p><p>The girl didn’t answer his question, so Aaron continued, not wanting to hurt her any more than he already had. “Emily told me to tell you that she’s really sorry. She feels horrible about having to leave,” he could hear the girl sniffling through the phone, which made it harder for him to keep his voice steady. “I’m sorry, too.”</p><p> </p><p>He hung up.</p><p> </p><p>JJ set her phone down and wrapped her arms around herself. Emily was gone. She turned slightly so that she was facing Penelope and Spencer, who had been watching her talk on the phone from the living room.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, honey,” Penelope stood up from her spot on the couch and made her way over where JJ was standing in the kitchen, pulling the shorter girl into a hug. Penelope hadn’t heard what Aaron said, but based on JJ’s reaction and the few words she was able to choke out in response, she knew it wasn’t good. She assumed that the “she” they had been talking about was Emily, which only made her heart hurt worse for the other girl.</p><p> </p><p>“What happened?” Spencer wondered, following Penelope into the kitchen, and standing beside her as she embraced the other girl.</p><p> </p><p>“Emily moved to Los Angeles,” JJ whispered.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>this chapter is short, but important.</p><p>sorry! you can yell at me in the comments or on tumblr (@jcreaus) if you want.</p><p>i hope you have a good day/night :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. it's a christmas miracle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>the time zones kind of make this confusing, so i apologize about that!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>3:00pm D.C. / 12:00pm LA </strong>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>“Okay people,” JJ called from the stage, “it’s show time.”</p><p> </p><p>It was finally the day of the fundraiser, and the doors were about to open to the public.</p><p> </p><p>They hadn’t done a ton of promotion for the event other than hanging fliers around town and inviting the elementary school students, so JJ didn’t expect a huge turnout. She figured a few of her students would come with their families, as well as her friends and family, but other than that, she didn’t expect a bunch of people to show up.</p><p> </p><p>Boy was she wrong.</p><p> </p><p>Penelope swung the front doors of the ballroom open to greet whoever had shown up, but she was met with a line of people that went on for nearly a block.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh Jayje,” Penelope called over her shoulder, “you might need to tell David to bring more food.”</p><p> </p><p>“There’s no way we won’t have enough-” JJ stopped midsentence when she saw how many people were actually waiting outside to come to <em>her </em>event. She smiled brightly, proud of herself for putting all of this together in such a short amount of time.</p><p> </p><p>Sure, she had help along the way, but she didn’t want to think about Emily right now. After hearing that the girl left her to host the fundraiser alone, and didn’t even have the guts to tell her herself, JJ had pushed any thought of Emily out of her mind. She wanted today to be fun, so being sad about the brunette leaving was not an option.</p><p> </p><p>She could be sad tomorrow.</p><p> </p><p>“Miss Jareau?” A little girl tapped on JJ’s arm to get her attention.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde looked down to find one of her students looking back up at her. “Hi, Allie,” JJ smiled at the girl.</p><p> </p><p>“May we come in now?”</p><p> </p><p>JJ laughed, realizing that her and Penelope had been gawking at the crowd instead of letting them in. She stepped to the side, and Penelope did the same. Allie and her family walked into the ballroom, followed by at least twenty other families that had shown up.</p><p> </p><p>After everyone that had been waiting was inside, Penelope walked over to JJ and enveloped her in a hug. “Thank you,” Penelope mumbled against the other girl’s shoulder. “This means so much to me.”</p><p> </p><p>JJ smiled again and pulled away to look at Penelope. “Let’s have some fun.”</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>9:00am LA / 12:00 pm D.C. </strong>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>Emily’s phone buzzed from where it was placed on the countertop in her new apartment. She stood up to grab it, assuming that it was Derek texting to see if she had settled into her place yet.</p><p> </p><p>Her flight had landed yesterday afternoon, but she hadn’t gotten to her apartment until today. Apparently there was a delay with packing up and moving all of her things to Los Angeles, so her company booked her a hotel room last night and told her that she could move in today.</p><p> </p><p>So now she was in her new apartment, unpacking boxes, and finding places for all of her things to go. She was working on emptying the few boxes that were marked ‘kitchen’, which the moving people had been nice enough to organize and label for her.</p><p> </p><p>‘Fundraiser Tonight’ was displayed on her phone in bold letters when she picked it up. It was a reminder from her calendar, which she apparently forgot to remove before flying to Los Angeles like she had planned on doing.</p><p> </p><p>Emily frowned. She hated that she left without saying a word to JJ. Aaron had called her after he spoke to JJ, so she knew how much she had hurt the blonde. The thought made her stomach twist into knots, so she put her phone down and sat on the floor to finish unpacking.</p><p> </p><p>She would call her tomorrow. After the event. Maybe it would hurt both of them less if she waited.</p><p> </p><p>Emily unpacked for another few minutes before realizing how hungry she was. She hadn’t eaten yet this morning, and the food from the hotel last night did not fill her up. She stood up and opened one of the cabinets, only to find that it was empty.</p><p> </p><p>Right. She hadn’t unpacked any plates yet.</p><p> </p><p>Emily walked over to the stack of boxes next to the fridge and read the labels. One had “wine glasses” written in black marker on the side, another had “silverware” written on it, which she grabbed and set on the counter, and the last one in the pile said “plates”.</p><p> </p><p>“Finally,” she sighed.</p><p> </p><p>Emily carefully picked up the box and set it next the one with all of her silverware. She grabbed a knife and cut through the tape on both of the boxes, opening them up once she was done. The first thing she pulled out was a fork, which she needed to eat the pancakes she planned on making. She pushed the box of silverware to the side and moved the one containing all of her plates in front of her. She opened it and found all of them wrapped in newspaper, so she picked up the one at the very top and unwrapped it.</p><p> </p><p>It was Julian’s plate.</p><p> </p><p>Tears instantly clouded her vision, the reindeer on the plate becoming blurry through her watery eyes. She blinked, sending a few drops down her cheeks.</p><p> </p><p>Emily held the plate in front of her, remembering the day that her and JJ had spent together decorating her old apartment. She remembered the tree that they had put up after spending way too much time laughing at each other while they tried to figure out the lights. She remembered the garland that they had clumsily hung above the door, which had been way too difficult in Emily’s opinion. She didn’t care, though. She loved that she got to spend that time with the younger girl, talking and laughing and watching stupid Christmas movies and falling asleep tangled in each other’s arms.</p><p> </p><p>Shit.</p><p> </p><p>She messed up.</p><p> </p><p>Emily set the plate down on the counter and made her way over to the front door where her keys and wallet were. She picked them up and slid on her boots, leaving the apartment and making her way downstairs.</p><p> </p><p>-</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>6:00pm D.C. / 3:00pm LA </strong>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>“Do you want a microphone?”</p><p> </p><p>It was a few hours into the fundraiser, and it was finally time to announce how much money they had raised. Aaron volunteered to be in charge of counting the money, so he had disappeared into an office in the same building about an hour ago to start. They knew that the majority of the money they would make would come from the tickets they sold at the door, but with such a big turnout, they expected to make a lot from the carnival games and bake sale too. Penelope had high hopes, so JJ was afraid of letting her down.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, yeah,” JJ answered. “Thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>He handed her a microphone, as well as the envelope containing the total amount of money they had raised. JJ had no idea what was inside, and there was no way in hell she could read Aaron’s expression to know whether or not he was happy or upset, so she wouldn’t be able to figure it out until the card with the amount written on it was in her hand. She was scared that she would open it and find out that they didn’t raise enough for Penelope.</p><p> </p><p>JJ knew she wouldn’t be able to handle that if it happened.</p><p> </p><p>She walked across the room to step on the stage, but halfway there her microphone screeched, sending a high-pitched noise through the speakers. JJ figured it was a problem with the sound system, so she went to turn the microphone off until it was fixed.</p><p> </p><p>But her microphone was already off.</p><p> </p><p>“Is this thing on?” A voice sounded over the speaker.</p><p> </p><p>Everyone in the ballroom looked at JJ, but she wasn’t the one talking.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde stopped walking and turned to scan the room to see if she could see anyone holding a microphone. The voice seemed like it belonged to a female, so she looked for Penelope, assuming that maybe the girl wanted to give a speech before they announced how much money they had raised. She found the girl standing by the carnival games with Spencer, but neither of them were holding a microphone.</p><p> </p><p>JJ stitched her eyebrows together, confusion washing over her face. Penelope shrugged in response, unsure of who the voice belonged to.</p><p> </p><p>A nervous laugh echoed through the speaker, “It seems like it’s on.”</p><p> </p><p>JJ knew that laugh anywhere.</p><p> </p><p>But how could that be? She was in Los Angeles, right?</p><p> </p><p>JJ could hear Emily, but she couldn’t see her. She spun around, searching the room for the brunette who had just spoken into a microphone somewhere nearby. But then she heard footsteps coming from behind her.</p><p> </p><p>She found Penelope amongst the crowd again, but the girl was smiling brightly in the direction of the stage. JJ turned around quickly, anxious to find out who was standing there.</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes widened the moment they landed on her. There Emily was, standing on the stage, holding a microphone, and wearing pajamas.</p><p> </p><p>Wait. Pajamas?</p><p> </p><p>Aaron told her that Emily had already left when they talked on the phone yesterday, so when did she come back to D.C.? The flight back from Los Angeles was about five hours (not that JJ had looked it up or anything), so did Emily fly back this morning? Did she drop everything to get here on time for the fundraiser?</p><p> </p><p>“Hi, everyone,” Emily spoke softly into the microphone. Her eyes searched the crowd, taking in the amount of people that had shown up. She wasn’t expecting to do this in front of so many people, but she could worry about that later. Right now, she was focused on finding a certain blonde that was hidden somewhere amongst the crowd.</p><p> </p><p>JJ had no idea what was going on, but as soon as Emily’s warm brown eyes found her blue ones, all of her questions and worries disappeared. She smiled softly at the girl, honestly just glad to have her back.</p><p> </p><p>Emily mirrored her smile and continued. “Thank you all for coming today,” she cleared her throat, realizing that she wasn’t talking very loudly or with much confidence. She straightened her back and redirected her gaze back to the crowd. “My name is Emily. Um, my friend worked really hard to put all of this together to help Penelope, so I’m really grateful that you all showed up to support both of them.”</p><p> </p><p>She found JJ in the crowd again and smiled at her. “Most of you probably know Jennifer,” she motioned towards where she was standing. Emily glanced at the dance floor, noticing all of the younger children that were chasing each other around and realized that some of them were probably JJ’s students. “Uh, or some of you may know her as Miss. Jareau.” She smiled nervously, never taking her eyes off of JJ.</p><p> </p><p>“I met JJ a few weeks ago. Actually, I collided with her outside of Penelope’s,” she laughed quietly at the memory. A few people in the crowd laughed at that, which Emily took as her cue to continue, “she roped me in to helping her organize this entire thing.” She looked around the room at all of the activities they had talked about over the last few weeks, feeling proud that JJ was able to pull it all together even after she had left. Not that she doubted the girl. She was just extremely proud of her.</p><p> </p><p>Emily smiled widely at JJ, “will you guys help me get her up here?”</p><p> </p><p>The brunette started to clap, and the crowd followed her lead. JJ blushed once she felt everyone’s eyes on her, but she eventually made her way up to the stage. Once she was standing next to Emily, the crowd cheered louder, eager to find out if they had raised enough money to save Penelope’s shop.</p><p> </p><p>JJ smiled sheepishly at the crowd and let Emily take the lead. She handed her the envelope, happy that they were going to do this together, just like she had been imagining over the last couple of weeks.</p><p> </p><p>“Before I announce the amount, I want to say something about this wonderful woman standing next to me,” Emily paused. She glanced over at JJ to make sure it was alright with her if she continued, and the blonde nodded. “For those of you who know JJ, you know that she lights up every room she walks into. I’ve only known her for a little while, but she has already brightened up my life in ways that I didn’t even think were possible. She put so much love into this fundraiser just so she could help out Penelope, and I am so lucky to have someone like that in my life. So, JJ, thank you for being you.” Emily smiled at JJ, suddenly feeling embarrassed for having said something <em>that </em>cheesy in front of over one hundred people.</p><p> </p><p>JJ smiled back and lifted her microphone to her mouth, “I did have some help, you know.” She playfully bumped her shoulder against Emily’s to let her know that she wasn’t upset with her for leaving. She didn’t want to take all of the credit for the fundraiser because then it felt like she was ignoring the last few weeks they had spent together. JJ had grown too close to the other girl to just sweep that under the rug because of one mistake. Besides, Emily was here now, and that was what mattered to JJ.</p><p> </p><p>“So,” Emily drawled out her words, “without further ado.” She peeled open the envelope and took out the card that was inside. She handed it to JJ, insisting that the girl make the announcement.</p><p> </p><p>“Together?”</p><p> </p><p>Emily nodded.</p><p> </p><p>JJ flipped over the card and they read the number on it at the same time, “twenty-four thousand dollars!”</p><p> </p><p>The crowd cheered loudly, ecstatic that they had raised so much. Their goal had been ten thousand dollars, which would have been more than enough to help Penelope and payoff what they spent to put the fundraiser together. They never expected so many people to show up, so <em>this </em>was incredible.</p><p> </p><p>JJ’s eyes widened, shock washing over her face. Emily beamed at her, and the blonde smiled brightly as the number sunk in. Emily pulled her into a tight hug, finally wrapping her arms around her for the first time that night. She had wanted to run right up to the girl once she had arrived, but this was so much better.</p><p> </p><p>They did it.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry,” Emily mumbled against JJ’s shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>JJ didn’t respond. Instead, she let go of Emily and took one of her hands, pulling her off of the stage and to an empty area behind it. They stood facing each other, only a few inches apart.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hi,” Emily mimicked. She was scared that JJ wouldn’t want anything to do with her, so she was bracing herself for the worst.</p><p> </p><p>“Did you mean what you said? About me brightening up your life?”</p><p> </p><p>Emily rolled her eyes, just now realizing how corny that actually sounded. She hated herself for wording it that way, but honestly, that was how she felt.</p><p> </p><p>She nodded. “I unwrapped Julian’s plate, which made me think about that Saturday you came over and practically threw Christmas up all over my apartment.”</p><p> </p><p>“That was a fun day,” JJ laughed at Emily’s sarcasm, truly loving how ridiculous the girl could be at times.</p><p> </p><p>Emily took a step closer to JJ. She hadn’t let go of the other girl’s hand since they had gotten off the stage, and she didn’t plan to any time soon.</p><p> </p><p>JJ shuffled closer too, the gap between them shrinking by the second. For a moment, JJ thought Emily was going to kiss her, but then she felt a hand on her arm.</p><p> </p><p>A small hand.</p><p> </p><p>“Miss Jareau!”</p><p> </p><p>Allie.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll be right with you Allie, okay?”</p><p> </p><p>JJ kept her eyes locked on Emily’s, not wanting the moment to be over. She had been wanting to kiss the girl ever since she opened her apartment door that morning with messy hair and pajamas on, so she was not willing to walk away just yet.</p><p> </p><p>“But Miss Jareau, look! Mistletoe!”</p><p> </p><p>JJ was the first to look up, noticing the green plant hanging from the ceiling above them. It took a moment for Emily to catch on, but once she did, she was gawking at the mistletoe over their heads.</p><p> </p><p><em>Of course</em> there was mistletoe.</p><p> </p><p>Allie ran away, and the sound of her feet hitting the floor brought Emily out of her thoughts and back to reality. She looked back down, her gaze landing on JJ. The blonde was still looking at the ceiling, so Emily studied the girl’s face. The only other time they had been that close was when she woke up and JJ’s head was resting on her chest. She had studied her face then too, admiring her soft ivory skin and the slight curve of her nose.</p><p> </p><p>JJ finally tore her gaze from the mistletoe and looked down, her bright eyes meeting Emily’s warm ones.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi,” JJ whispered.</p><p> </p><p>Emily didn’t hesitate to close the small gap between them, her chapped lips pressing firmly against JJ’s soft ones.</p><p> </p><p>It was a gentle kiss that didn’t last too long because they were hyperaware of the amount of people in the room, but it conveyed the adoration they had for each other. It was clear to both of them that their feelings were reciprocated, the thought making Emily smile, causing her to break the kiss.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s a Christmas miracle,” Emily mumbled against JJ’s lips.</p><p> </p><p>“Emily,” JJ laughed, “that was <em>so</em> cheesy.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>we made it to the end y'all! i hope you guys liked it! i despise cheesy christmas movies (but secretly love them), so i really loved writing this.</p><p>say hi to me on tumblr (@jcreaus) if you want!</p><p>merry christmas if you celebrate! and i hope you have a good day/night :)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm hoping to update this every few days, so hopefully you guys don't have to wait too long to find out who Emily bumped into ;)</p><p>I appreciate any and all feedback, so feel free to let me know what you think in the comments or shoot me a message (@jcreaus) on tumblr!</p><p>Thank you for reading and have a good day/night :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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